Dearborn, Michigan – FIRST Motorsport called a press conference at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan today to announce the signing of Formula Virtual veteran Will Hoskins. Press conference included below, with Will Hoskins, Team Principal Adam Blocker, and Ford’s FV Program Director Rob Aiken in attendance. Adam Blocker: Welcome everyone. Today is a huge day in FIRST’s Formula Virtual history, as we are proud to announce the biggest driver signing in our history. To date, he has achieved 12 pole positions, 8 race victories, 24 podiums, 8 fastest laps, and has started every Formula Virtual race in history. We are proud to announce that Will Hoskins will be driving for us in 2020! Come on out Will!
Enthusiastic applause fills the room Reporter: Wow, that’s huge news. Talk us through the decision-making process Will and what your hopes are for 2020. Will Hoskins: Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, means a lot. As you all know, I recently did a one-off race for FIRST in Jerez. FIRST and I were already in advanced contract discussions for next season but working with the team in Jerez sealed the deal. Our result on the day was lacking, but the team and I got on well and I think that there is a lot of potential in the future for this team. I’ve been to the FIRST factory in Charlotte and the Ford factory here and I’m impressed by what they are building. FIRST and Ford, in my mind, have a good long term plan that will lead to success in Formula Virtual. I seem to fit what they were looking for in a driver as well, so definitely looking forward to racing with them full time next season. R: And what were FIRST looking for in a driver Adam? AB: Ultimately we were looking for someone with a ton of FV experience to help develop the car and also someone that can consistently execute on race day. Will fits both of those and more, as evidenced by his previous results and current form with Andromeda. In my opinion, Will deserves to be World Champion but he just has not had the right opportunities to make that happen in the past. R: How is Ford feeling about 2020, especially given this announcement Rob? Rob Aiken: This is a morale boost for everyone at our factory. Everyone is excited to have such a quality driver come onboard the program and I’m sure it will make everyone work even harder to help us keep building on our 2019 performance. Honestly, the future looks bright for all three teams that we currently supply. All of them have good plans for the future that excite us to continue supporting them and announcements like the one today are evidence of that build for the future. R: What are your goals for next season Will? WH: We won’t really know what realistic goals to set for next season until we get to preseason testing and see what the level of competition is, but my personal goal is to win a race next season. It’s been a while since I’ve won one and it would mean a lot to get back to the top and prove to myself that I can still do it. R: Are you planning on getting a house in America? WH: I have a permanent residence back in the UK that I’ve lived in for most of my career. That won’t change. I normally rent an apartment close to team headquarters for teams based outside the UK, so I’ll probably find an apartment in Charlotte that I can stay at whenever I’ll be on this side of the pond. R: What is the rest of the FIRST driver lineup looking like Adam? AB: We have already made a decision on our second driver and that will be announced shortly, we still have to go through all of the paperwork formalities to make it official. No decisions about test driver or youth academy have been made yet. R: Anything to add Rob? RA: Yeah, just want to invite everyone here to get a tour of our facilities here in Dearborn and to come out to support the team at Indianapolis in the upcoming US V-Prix. The Indianapolis race is normally one of the most entertaining on the schedule, and with an American team and engine supplier running strong this year we hope to have great attendance and lots of home support. Thanks everyone for coming, see you guys in Indy.
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